1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a selector lever apparatus for vehicles having an automatic transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the selector lever of a vehicle having an automatic transmission (to hereinafter be referred to as an AT car) can be shifted to parking position (P) for mechanically fixing an output shaft of the transmission, reverse position (R) for reversing the vehicle, neutral position (N) in which the engine output is completely disconnected from the output shaft of the transmission, drive position (D) wherein the plurality of forward gears are shifted automatically, gear position (2) which limits forward gear selection to the second gear or limits gear-shifting to only between second gear and low gear, and low gear position (L or 1) for limiting forward gear selection to only low gear. The action of shifting the selector lever from the parking position to the drive or reverse position is normally accompanied by the simultaneous pressing of a push button arranged on the selector lever.
Selector levers are roughly classified into the steering column type and the floor-mounted type.
The selector lever of the AT car is normally set at the parking position during parking so as to reliably stop the vehicle. When the vehicle is started, the selector lever is shifted from the parking position to the drive position or the reverse position after the engine is started. In this case, if the shifting operation of the selector lever is performed while the brake pedal is depressed, the vehicle is not abruptly started and hence no problem is posed. However, an accident may be caused because of an erroneous operation of a driver due to carelessness and lack of experience of the driver in spite of the fact that instructions for the starting period are described in a manual of an AT car. For example, in a state wherein the engine is raced after starting of the engine and rotated at high speed, if the parking brake is released and the selector lever is shifted to the drive position or the reverse position without depressing the brake pedal, a driving force is abruptly transmitted to the driving shaft of the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle is abruptly started against the driver's will. Similarly, if the selector lever is shifted to the drive position or the reverse position while the engine is rotated at high speed, e.g., during warming up, the vehicle is abruptly started. In addition, since such unexpected and sudden starting accompanies a relatively large shock, the driver tends to be confused. This may further cause an erroneous operation that the driver steps on the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal by mistake, thereby causing an accident.
Recently, demands have been arisen for a technique which can reliably prevent abrupt starting of an AT car due to an erroneous operation of a driver.